Celebrate Carroll Shelby's birthday with Road & Track

91 years later, his legend lives on.

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As the story goes, the then-new Shelby-powered Cobra was being put through its paces on the M1 freeway in the mid-1960s. Numerous reports of the car blitzing down straight sections at 180 mph sent the media into a moralistic frenzy, and the government instituted a temporary 70-mph speed cap in December 1965, which was later passed into law. It's been nearly two years since he passed away, and Carroll Shelby's presence is still very much missed, but it's safe to say that the tire-burning Texan left a lasting impression all over the globe.

He would have been 91 years old today.

Along with the likes of Dan Gurney, John Fitch, and Phil Remmington, Shelby defined a generation of American motoring figures who matched the world's best. The iconic racing driver and designer was a close friend of Road & Track for more than half a century, and we've had the privilege of creating numerous memories with his eight-cylinder masterpieces. From his original AC Cobra to the S197 Mustang, here are a few of our best Shelby-related tales.